Uttar Pradesh has crossed the mark of Rs 12,000 crore in the ethanol economy with annual capacity pegged at 2 billion litres per annum, reports Business-Standard.
Sanjay Bhoosreddy, additional chief secretary (sugar industry and sugarcane development) said, “In the next couple of years the state’s ethanol capacity is expected to touch 2.25 billion litres.”
Over the last five years, the private sector distilleries have invested around Rs 7,500 crore in the ethanol production sector, he said.
Around 120 sugar mills including 93 private, 24 cooperatives and 3 private sugar mills will participate in the ongoing crushing season. “Five private mills will directly manufacture ethanol from sugarcane juice and 71 others will produce ethanol from b-heavy molasses,” he added.
The area under sugarcane cultivation is estimated to increase by 3% this season and the cane production is estimated at 234.8 million tonnes (MT) in the current season.
Sugar output in UP is expected to touch 11 MT after deducting around 1.5 MT of sugar equivalent to sugarcane diversion towards ethanol
